Artwork
The Good Samaritan
The Good Samaritan is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Unknown. It dates from 1551 and is held in the collection of the Groeningemuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Within the landscape setting, the composition incorporates a range of supporting motifs drawn from the surrounding countryside and built environment.
The painting illustrates the parable of the Good Samaritan, a New Testament narrative in which a traveler who has been beaten and left by the roadside is aided by a passing Samaritan, in contrast to a priest and a Levite who pass him by. The work is classified as religious art, and its main subject is identified as the parable of the Good Samaritan itself.
Within the landscape setting, the composition incorporates a range of supporting motifs drawn from the surrounding countryside and built environment. A tree, a bird, a mountain, a forest, a house, and a church building are all depicted alongside the central narrative, situating the biblical episode within a detailed natural and architectural backdrop. The inclusion of the church building in particular reflects the moral and devotional framing typical of sixteenth-century religious painting, anchoring the parable's message of mercy within a Christian visual vocabulary.
Technique & Style
The Good Samaritan is an oil painting on a square support measuring 99 cm in height by 101 cm in width. Dated 1551, the work belongs to the religious genre and depicts the parable of the Good Samaritan, incorporating a landscape setting with trees, a forest, mountains, a house, a church building, and birds. The composition is classified as a painting and is held in the Groeningemuseum as part of the Vlaamse Kunstcollectie.
The medium is oil paint, consistent with mid-sixteenth-century Southern Netherlandish practice, and the imagery combines figural narrative with an expansive natural environment.
History & Provenance
The Good Samaritan is an oil painting dated to 1551, produced in the Southern Netherlands during the second half of the sixteenth century by an anonymous master. The work entered the collection of the Groeningemuseum in Bruges, where it is held as part of the Vlaamse Kunstcollectie (Flemish Art Collection). No further details of commission, intermediate ownership, or acquisition history are documented in the available sources.
The painting is recorded with a height of 99 cm and a width of 101 cm, and its main subject is the parable of the Good Samaritan, accompanied by depictions of a tree, a bird, a mountain, a house, a church building, and a forest.
The painting known as The Good Samaritan, dated to 1551, is held in the Groeningemuseum in Bruges, which is part of the Vlaamse Kunstcollectie. The work is attributed to an anonymous master from the Southern Netherlands active in the second half of the 16th century. Within the museum's collection, it is cataloged as an oil-on-panel religious painting depicting the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan alongside landscape elements such as trees, mountains, and a church.
The inventory records specify the dimensions as 99 cm in height and 101 cm in width. The provided sources do not contain information regarding specific past exhibitions or a detailed accession number beyond its inclusion in the Flemish art collection.
Overview
The work titled “The Good Samaritan” is an oil painting that depicts a tranquil forest setting intersected by a modest stream. In the distance a village with clustered houses and a church crowns a hill, while a figure in white advances toward it. A second figure in a red cloak assists a wounded man lying on the ground, creating a focal narrative within the natural landscape.
Context
Set within a pastoral landscape, the painting reflects a tradition of integrating moral narratives into idyllic natural scenes, a practice common in European art of the 17th–18th centuries. By situating the biblical episode in a familiar countryside, the work invites viewers to contemplate ethical action as part of everyday life.
Artist & collection
